Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

T R E 4 5 O N

We still have time to mess this up!

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / Yeah This Will Fucking Work

Yeah This Will Fucking Work

by | 190 Comments

This post is in: 

We’re so fucked and the end is nowhere in sight:

The novel coronavirus is surging in several Midwestern states that had not previously seen high infection rates while average daily deaths remained elevated Monday in Southern and Western states hit with a resurgence of the disease after lifting some restrictions earlier this summer.

Missouri, Montana and Oklahoma are among those witnessing the largest percentage surge of infections over the past week, while, adjusted for population, the number of new cases in Florida, Mississippi and Alabama still outpaced all other states, according to a Washington Post analysis of health data.

Experts also see worrying trends emerging in major East Coast and Midwest cities, and they anticipate major outbreaks in college towns as classes resume in August.

The University of Texas at Austin notified students that parties are prohibited when the campus reopens in three weeks. The school cited city health guidelines prohibiting groups larger than 10 people and requiring a mask when out in public.

Yeah I’m sure that will work, UT.

Reader Interactions

190Comments

  1. 1.

    clay

    I teach high school in Florida.  Our district is letting students choose to have full-rime distance learning, or a hybrid in-school/distance schedule.

    Over half of our school’s 1500 student body is opting for full-time distance learning. Every teacher I’ve spoken to agrees that we should just make it official and cancel the in-school option completely.

  4. 4.

    Walker

    Depends on how they enforce it. We are considering expulsion from the University for violations (and online chatter shows we have a sizable student population more than willing to video and report violators).

  5. 5.

    dmsilev

    ‘Tell college students to follow all the rules’.

    I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

  12. 12.

    A Ghost to Most

    I can’t help but think that the youngs are intentionally passing this around, to get rid of boomers. I don’t blame them. My generation sucks: selfish and self-righteous.

  14. 14.

    Yutsano

    @Elizabelle: 90 more days then 78 more days until Biden takes over. And if he loses I start seriously looking into our potential Irish citizenship.

  18. 18.

    Patricia Kayden

    Why is anyone surprised that NY DA is investigating fraud by Trump? TrumpU & Fndtn already guilty of fraud. Why was Trump's legal team stupid enough to challenge the subpoena. They knew that DA response would be to tell court they need tax info for more than 45's hush$ payments.— Jill Wine-Banks (@JillWineBanks) August 4, 2020

  19. 19.

    Mike in NC

    Fast forward to the middle of September. Total deaths will be around 250K and Fat Bastard will be claiming the vaccine will be ready “any day now, believe me”. Meanwhile 90% of schools will be locked back down.

  21. 21.

    trollhattan

    Just cycled past a local park where there are currently two soccer matches (adult males, complete with refs) and two volleyball matches (adults) ongoing. No masks.

  22. 22.

    Gelfling 545

    @clay: I was a teacher most of my working life. Trying to teach in person and online is going to be an almost impossible burden unless they are scheduling really very differently from the average highschool teaching class load.

  23. 23.

    Elizabelle

    @Yutsano:   Lucky bug WRT Irish citizenship. I have no ties to the EU.

    Is there a way those of us with families who arrived in the 19th century can obtain?  I regret to say we have no Irish ancestry, as far as I know, although lots of Scots, British and German.

  24. 24.

    Redshift

    @clay: My county school system initially proposed a mix of online and in-person, with families allowed to choose. There was tremendous backlash from teachers and staff, who thought (correctly, in my view) that the plans were focused on protecting students and not on protecting staff. Then the vast majority of families opted for remote learning, and the plans changed to all remote.

    I suspect that school officials were hearing a lot from ranters, and were afraid prior wouldn’t accept all remote initially. And if course everyone *wanted* kids back in school. But then it became clear things weren’t good enough, the actual majority view became clear.

  27. 27.

    mrmoshpotato

    @A Ghost to Most: I can’t help but think that the youngs are intentionally passing this around, to get rid of boomers. I don’t blame them. My generation sucks: selfish and self-righteous.

    I don’t think they’re that determined and organized.  More like being selfish and without proper guidance (hello Dump and Abbott) on this pandemic.

  28. 28.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Patricia Kayden: I’m getting obsessed with this case. I’m thinking Vance already has trump’s state returns, no? Testimony from Michael Cohen and the executives he named in the House hearings.  I’m sure he would also like to be the guy who got trump’s (federal) taxes, but does he need them? And if he has larger ambitions, I imagine “guy who indicted Donald trump” would not be a bad thing in NY politics.

    Also, Popehat (who is a lawyer) says DAs are a lot more aggressive than US attys.

  29. 29.

    Patricia Kayden

    Even countries celebrated for their handling of the pandemic are seeing a resurgence in Covid-19 cases.The renewed outbreaks serve as a stark warning to global leaders of how quickly an apparent success story can unravel. https://t.co/fBG1w8ce3X— CNN (@CNN) August 4, 2020

  31. 31.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    This is so good to hear. One way or the other, NY is going to get Trump once he leaves office.

    /2AUSAs REALLY don't like to lose and many will shy away from all but the strongest cases.DAs on the other hand … well. They are necessarily much more at peace with losing and tend to have a "eh, let's throw it in front of a jury and see what happens" attitude.— IllegalLateNightCoupHat (@Popehat) August 3, 2020

  34. 34.

    dmsilev

    @WaterGirl: We’re bringing back about 1/3 of our undergrads, or at least that’s the plan right now. That was set by how many dorm spaces we have, with each student having their own bedroom and 2-3 max per bathroom, plus reserving one dorm building as an isolation ward. Then there’s a prioritization system for issuing invitations to campus based on various factors. Probably 95% or more of the classes will be remote, so if things go downhill we can ramp the population down without too much additional pain and suffering.

    It’s hardly an ideal situation, but we’re doing the best we can.

  35. 35.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Patricia Kayden: for more than 45’s hush$ payments

    I misread that as “for more of 45’s hush$ payments” and thought, “What other porn stars did he rawdog while his 3rd wife was home with his newborn 5th kid?”

  36. 36.

    Joe Falco

    I’ve joked with friends about celebrating my birthday on the 17th by dressing up as the Grim Reaper and walk through the college campus on the same day UGA is back open.

  38. 38.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Mike in NC: Fast forward to the middle of September. Total deaths will be around 250K and Fat Bastard will be claiming the vaccine will be ready “any day now, believe me”. Meanwhile 90% of schools will be locked back down.

    The Excuse Me, Excuse Me, Most Tremendous Bigliest Healthcare At A Fraction Of The Cost was supposed to come out this past weekend, but we’ll have it by the end of the month now.  (hahahahhahahahhahhhaha)  At least that’s what the Soviet shitpile mobster conman said today.

  41. 41.

    tokyokie

    @Benw:

    I guess UTA is hopin the kids DON’T KNOW HOW TO PARTY

    Ahem, UTA refers to the University of Texas-Arlington, whereas the school down in Austin, is usually called UT. But you’re probably correct otherwise, and the fraternity houses are likely to be the worst offenders.

  45. 45.

    Raoul

    Except possibly in outdoor, very spacious settings (think hiking with people spread out well) limiting college groups to 10 people or fewer strikes me as just absurd.

    You go have coffee with five of your friends (so, obv. masks off to drink coffee), then you have lunch a couple hours later with 6 classmates. You play card games in the dorm in the evening, and yeah, you kinda sorta wear masks, but there’s a lot of goofing around. And eventually, a couple of folks slink off to make out.

    How long before the entire campus is just non-stop Covid spread? Days?

  49. 49.

    azlib

    @tokyokie:

    Ah, my old alma mater. Yes, the frat houses will be a problem. At least the UT administration is following the City guidelines.

  51. 51.

    Redshift

    @Raoul: Yeah, allowing people to have contact with a small group only works if it’s always the same group (or pod), not if it’s just a limit on the number of random people who gather at any one time.

  54. 54.

    Cameron

    @Elizabelle: Not sure how much difference it makes.  I have close enough relatives in eastern Europe to get an early long-term residency designation although not close enough for early citizenship.  Only problem is, EU isn’t letting Americans in.

  55. 55.

    Redshift

    The college where Ms. Redshift is in grad school is doing mostly virtual, and trying to do on campus only for lab classes, a portion of freshman classes, and for foreign students and students who have difficult home situations. Good intentions; we’ll see how long the plan survives.

  57. 57.

    pat

    Our cases in La Crosse County (western Wisconsin) were trending 3 or 4 new cases per day ( reported on the front page of the Tribune).  One day there were ZERO.

    Then the repub Supreme Court disallowed Gov. Evers Stay at Home Order and the bars opened.  Since then the new cases have been 10-20 per day.  Mostly young people in their 20s.

    Imagine what happens when the colleges open and the students come back and head to the bars on Friday night.

    I have felt fairly safe going to the local grocery store, Walgreens, Menards (face mask required  in all) because we don’t have the major virus outbreaks that other states have.

    I dread what may be coming.

  58. 58.

    Cameron

    @Mike in NC: Sometime around the beginning of October, he’ll announce that  the vaccine is ready, tested and in production….and will be available November 4th.

  59. 59.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Elie Honig @eliehonig ·7h
    Bad news for the President. This shows the DA is focused on specific criminal charges and not just poking around the financials. And it’s much easier to build a standard bank fraud or tax fraud case than the complex hush money / campaign finance case.

  60. 60.

    mrmoshpotato

    @WaterGirl: That’s smarter than the plan at the University of Illinois.

    What disaster awaits Chambana?

    ETA – reading your UofI link.

  64. 64.

    tokyokie

    @azlib: But UT’s frats tend to be scofflaws in the best of times, and the Austin PD generally leaves them alone, knowing somebody will play the “do you know who my father is” card, and they’ll be getting deposed by some $500-an-hour lawyer from Baker-Botts or some such.

  68. 68.

    NotMax

    prohibiting groups larger than 10 people

    The least signed up for class has more attending than that.

    Just sayin’.

  71. 71.

    Mary G

    Our district is going all remote, but required the teen to come into the high school to register in person today. He said it was a mess. I bought an air purifier for my room.

  72. 72.

    Benw

    Dear @mrmoshpotato:

    You are hereby banned from Balloon Juice for linking to offensive content. Please immediately delete your 5 most recent posts and log out of your account and don’t log back in. Failure to do so will result in further banning. Please understand that we are doing this for the children.

    Best regards,

    The BJ Content Committee

  73. 73.

    Patricia Kayden

    Let’s stop blindly pretending that all police are well-intended, nobly doing their jobs.Let’s stop blindly pretending that all troops are well-intended, nobly doing their jobs.Instead, let’s be adults. And stop unblinking idolatry & the uniform fetish that's our silly history— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) August 4, 2020

  74. 74.

    Luciamia

    Talk about worrying about silly things. But I feel sad that trick or treating will be banned this year.

  75. 75.

    Calouste

    @Elizabelle: How much money do you have? You can get a Golden Visa residency in a number of EU countries (Portugal, Spain, Malta, Cyprus, maybe more) if you buy a property there. For Portugal IIRC the requirement was buying a 500K Euro property, 350K Euro in a disadvantaged area, plus 10K or so in fees. Citizenship in 3-5 years.

  76. 76.

    Ken

    @WaterGirl: Quoth the University of Illinois, “Of course, our collective decision assumes that Illinois stays on track to meet Phase 4 requirements.”

    First line of the Phase 4 requirements: “There is a continued decline in the rate of infection in new COVID-19 cases.”  The rate in Illinois is increasing, so I wonder what UI will do.

  78. 78.

    randy khan

    @khead:

    Hogan is better than most Republicans, but he’s still got to cater to the religious school crowd if he wants their support.  That’s what this is about.  Still, it’s a bad mistake.

  79. 79.

    Citizen Alan

    @azlib: Speaking as an Ole Miss grad, the possibility that Covid 19 will lead to the destruction of the Greek System actually might be a silver lining (with our host’s frat an exception to the general rule of fraternity awfulness).

  80. 80.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Benw: You are hereby banned from Balloon Juice for linking to offensive content.

    You’re still dancing to the beat.  Aren’t you?  Aren’t you? :)

    Please immediately delete your 5 most recent posts and log out of your account and don’t log back in.

    Not possible.

    Failure to do so will result in further banning.

    Further banning on the top of the ban.  Woo hoo!

    Please understand that we are doing this for the children.

    Well, you’re doing more than Dump’s bastard administration.  Bravo!

  81. 81.

    Skepticat

    As we expected, the Bahamas slammed back down into full lockdown for at least another two weeks, with the probability of more. I’d planned to go back to Maine for a a while to escape the brutal heat and to see my doctor, but that’s not looking feasible at the moment. At least I’m considerably safer here, though I do regret that I skipped the liquor store on my last trip to the big island.

  83. 83.

    apocalipstick

    @Gelfling 545: They’re not. We’re being told that we are expected to prepare in such a way that we can keep moving forward even if students are absent or if we move to staggered attendance; IOW, prepare an in-person lesson and an online lesson so that students who are in asymptomatic quarantine or who are not in the building will still “advance”. Full-time in-class prep, full-time online prep.

  84. 84.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Luciamia: Talk about worrying about silly things. But I feel sad that trick or treating will be banned this year.

    It’s a bummer.

    Selfish adults have denied the kids bigger things, like their graduation ceremonies.  It’s a constant reminder walking around the neighborhood with the 2020 grad signs.

  85. 85.

    Poe Larity

    Re UT, I wonder if the young Associates see Covid as an opportunity wrt the tenured Profs. There were a lot of 70-somethings when I was there.

    Also too, If the average poll worker is 70, who will be around to man the polling stations in November? Perhaps someone should be making a plan.

  86. 86.

    Ken

    @Luciamia: I feel sad that trick or treating will be banned this year.

    Every year we get horror stories about needles and poison in the candy, and parents freak out. This year we instead have a deadly virus – wonder what the reaction will be?

    And then there’s Christmas shopping.

  87. 87.

    WaterGirl

    @Ken: Email from today:

    Important Fall 2020 Update: Requirements & Expectations
    August 3, 2020 8:54 AM

    Dear faculty and staff members,

    I am writing to announce some important decisions about requirements and expectations for the Fall 2020 semester. We realize people have been waiting patiently, asking important questions and not always receiving detailed answers when you hoped to have them. We hope you find a lot of those answers in this message. We still don’t have them all, but we’re going to continue to tell you what we know as quickly and openly as we can. Continue to check the university COVID-19 website for the most recent details.

    We are a university that is privileged to be home to some of the world’s leading minds on COVID-19 safety, testing and procedures. If we all do our part, we believe we have the ability to achieve our missions. Below is a summary of some critical information you will need to know in the coming weeks. We are sharing the information students need to know in this message directly to them.

    Updated Fall 2020 Requirements & Protocols

    COVID-19 Testing – On-campus testing is required for all faculty, staff or students who have a need to be on-campus for any reason for any length of time.

    Mandatory twice weekly testing will be required for all faculty, staff or students who participate in any on-campus activities.
    Faculty, staff or students visiting the campus only occasionally (for example, picking up something from their office) will be required to go to a testing center, get tested and have test results dated no more than four days prior to entering any university facility.
    Note: If you are currently participating in any on-campus work or activities, you are encouraged to begin this practice now. Please see more information about testing (including a list of the current on-campus testing sites) here.

    Contact Tracing – We are coordinating and partnering closely with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District to support their work to manage contact tracing for all COVID-19 cases in Champaign County that are related to our faculty, staff or students.

    Quarantine & Isolation – All faculty, staff or students who test positive for COVID-19 are required to isolate per guidance by the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District. Quarantine requirements apply to those who travel internationally or are placed into quarantine by public health based on exposure to someone who tested positive. More information about quarantine requirements for individuals returning to campus can be found here.

    Online COVID-19 Training – All faculty, staff and students, regardless of whether they are participating in on-campus activities or are 100 percent remote, are required to complete the Division of Research Safety COVID-19 online training. This must be completed before Monday, Aug. 24.

    Face Coverings & Social Distancing – We will continue to require everyone to practice social distancing on campus and to wear face coverings in university facilities unless they are alone in a private space. Face coverings are also required for outside campus spaces where sufficient social distancing is not possible.

    Other Fall 2020 Guidance

    Instruction after Nov. 20 – Friday, Nov. 20 will be the last day of in-person instruction for the Fall 2020 semester. After this day, Fall 2020 instruction and final exams will utilize alternative delivery methods.

    COVID-19 Classroom Management Guide – The Office of the Provost has created a guide for instructors with detailed information for classroom management, including suggested syllabus language.

    Safer in Illinois App – The university has created an app for faculty, staff and students that will display an individual’s building entry status. When it is available, use of the app will be expected of members of our university community. More information about other features, where to download it and how to use it will be shared soon.

    Guidance for Employees – Illinois Human Resources has created guidance and resources for university employees. Information is available on the COVID-19 website for employees working in university facilities and for employees working remotely.

    Cleaning – Facilities & Services continues to maintain robust cleaning and sanitizing procedures. There will also be sanitation stations across campus to facilitate frequent hand washing and the use of hand sanitizer.

    COVID Wellness Team – The university will be encouraging (and, when necessary, enforcing) COVID-19 guidelines in a number of ways, including creating a new COVID Wellness team. This team will include student Wellness Ambassadors, a COVID Wellness Answer Center to answer questions and Wellness Support Associates who will check for compliance at the entrances of buildings and classrooms. This team will be in place by Monday, Aug. 24, the first day of instruction for the Fall 2020 semester.

    I want to confirm that we will continue to engage with the labor unions that represent our employees to discuss the impact of these plans.

    I sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to make decisions and take actions to maximize the safety of our students, faculty, staff and greater community.

    I know how hard this has been for every single one of you reading this, and I am so proud to be part of a university where so many people make the well-being of others their top priority.

    Sincerely,

    Robert J. Jones
    Chancellor

  88. 88.

    The Moar You Know

    Google “COVID orphans” for a great new angle on how this virus is destroying everything in America.

  90. 90.

    Ken

    @WaterGirl: Mandatory twice weekly testing will be required for all faculty, staff or students who participate in any on-campus activities.

    They setting up their own lab?

  91. 91.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Luciamia: Would tricker-treating be so bad? mostly outdoors, pre-wrapped candy…. not many small kids in my life these days, but from what I’ve seen, it’s not as big a thing as it was back in my time, smaller kids going to fewer houses

  93. 93.

    WaterGirl

    @Ken: I don’t think so.  Two weeks ago my doctor friend with a 0% appointment with the University got tested thru the UI and they promised results within 8-48 hours.  She got the results later the same day.  But that’s without the students on campus or classes in session.

    My prediction:  Everything falls apart once students arrive.

  94. 94.

    Benw

    Dear @mrmoshpotato:

    Unfortunately your sarcastic response has led to more banning. You are banned. Please delete your BJ account immediately. Any future posts will result in further bans. Please remember: the children are our future.

    Warmest regards,

    The BJ Content Committee

  95. 95.

    marklar

    @dmsilev:

    Hey, are we workmates? That’s pretty much the same as our campus.  First year students, some of the other classes based upon necessity are prioritized. Single rooms.  three students or so sharing bathrooms.  Possibility of 1 hour set aside in the dining hall for students/staff with vulnerabilities.

    Faculty are permitted to teach any way we choose. I’m going to be 100% remote.

     

    BTW, Strike my question about being workmates.  You’re at a much more prestigious institution than am I (Liberal Arts college on the East Coast).

  96. 96.

    Brachiator

    @A Ghost to Most:

    I can’t help but think that the youngs are intentionally passing this around, to get rid of boomers.

    I don’t know why you would say something so ridiculous. The virus is not 100 percent fatal to “boomers.”

    And people all around the world are dying. How is this about you?

  97. 97.

    Mary G

    Good lord, more ratfucking:

    BREAKING: Census Bureau confirms all #2020Census counting efforts will be cut a month short, risking a severe undercount of people of color. Collecting responses online, over the phone & by mail, plus door knocking at unresponsive homes, to end on Sept. 30https://t.co/6XCz5Wg6EE— Hansi Lo Wang (@hansilowang) August 4, 2020

  98. 98.

    Mel

    @Walker: This is good; however, the problem is that by the time the maskless kiddos and congregating partiers have violated the safety rules, and then headed back to the dorms or to classes, the damage has likely already been done in terns of spreading the disease to other students, staff, faculty, etc.

    You can expel the violators, but you can’t expel the virus that they likely have already spread to others on campus.

  100. 100.

    Ken

    @marklar: Faculty are permitted to teach any way we choose. I’m going to be 100% remote.

    Are you planning live remote, or recorded? I’m curious about techniques.

  102. 102.

    joel hanes

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I love to light the jack-o-lanterns and answer the Trick Or Treat door with a candelabra full of candles, and to act weird and freak out the kids.

    This year we will do none of that.   A hundred strangers coming to our door?   Oh no no no no no.

  103. 103.

    dmsilev

    @Mary G: Apparently the House has the authority to reject or accept Census apportionment results. I think, come January, they should reject it and do a new Census with sane and well-intentioned leaders. As a bonus, it keeps several hundred thousand temporary census workers employed.

  104. 104.

    Brachiator

    @Luciamia:

    Talk about worrying about silly things. But I feel sad that trick or treating will be banned this year.

    Universal Studios has cancelled it’s Halloween house of horrors. This makes sense because of crowds and such.

    I guess trick or treating could still go on. Maybe not. It’s outside, but you might want to limit the number of children who could go to any particular house at one time. You would still need social distance, but small kids might not pay attention.

    Maybe alternative events.

  105. 105.

    joel hanes

    @mrmoshpotato:

    I expect six weeks from arrival of students in the dorms to re-closure because of uncontrolled epidemic outbreak.   Eight weeks max.   Deaths to follow six to ten weeks after that.

  108. 108.

    dmsilev

    @marklar:

    Possibility of 1 hour set aside in the dining hall for students/staff with vulnerabilities

    One advantage we have of being in Southern California is we can say ‘all dining halls are to-go, and we’re putting out a large number of outdoor tables’. In, say, New England, that’d get problematic by October.

  109. 109.

    Benw

    Dear @mrmoshpotato:

    Please be aware that your irreverant posting of silly memes while banned violates our policy. You are hereby further banned. Please never post here again. Keeping kids safe is our #1 priority.

    Warmest regards,

    The BJ Content Committee

  112. 112.

    dmsilev

    @Tom Levenson: A hundred thousand or so students, with no real coordination between the umpteen different institutions nominally responsible for dealing with them, many crammed in multi-roommate apartments with less than zero social controls. What could possibly go wrong?

    Stay far far away from Brighton and Allston, is what I’m getting at.

    My parents are in Brookline, which I think you’ve said is where you live as well, and from what they’ve said the local environment isn’t too bad right now, but the metro area as a whole come fall…

  114. 114.

    laura

    @SFBayAreaGal: Elk Grove School District Superintendent has made really good decisions since early spring and pissed off a large group of parents with student athletes. Making the decision to go full distance learning and doing it early enough to create more chaos. He is a level-headed good leader.

  116. 116.

    Mary G

    Andy Slavitt has a great thread up about schools and our kids. I have copied the whole thing off thread reader app:

    COVID Update August 3: Schools and kids and education.
    Are we missing the forest from the trees? 1/

    I began writing a lengthy thread on the difficult decision of sending kids back to school, with 4 scenarios & decision criteria to try to help parents.
    Then I stopped because I started thinking about kids and what we teach them. I scrapped it for something much less useful. 2/

    I think about the things we all try to teach our kids.
    -being safe
    -following the golden rule
    -showing consideration
    -using evidence
    -looking out for those less fortunate

    And I thought WTF are they going to say about us when they grow up? 3/

    They are watching us invoke them and how precious their education is (it is) but they see we weren’t willing to work all summer to make their buildings safe.
    That we decided to keep bars open & spread COVID even knowing it would be impossible to control come fall. 4/

    That the governor in Arizona threatened to take a school district’s budget if they didn’t open even after a teacher died there.
    That we have some studies now that show school age kids get & spread COVID-19 & the president still asked EVERY school to be open even w high spread.5/

    That we have data emerging that indicates there is medium or long term cardiac consequences for even asymptomatic people & still decided to open schools in person.
    That we didn’t put together the tools— tests & contact tracing— to make them, their schools & their families safe. 6

    They see European & Asian countries have done those things.
    They’re smart. They’re curious. They’re observant. They know it’s not impossible.
    Do they think we can’t? That we won’t? 7/

    They can see or will learn that some here had economic & political reasons for wanting them back in school and that’s what mattered.
    That we ignored their teachers. And their aides, their librarians, their bus drivers. The adults we tell them to listen to. 8/

    They will learn as you will that the Koch Brothers has people tinkering with CDC plan on school openings. That they were allowed. 9/

    These are formative years. What else do they see?
    That the president hails the stock market but doesn’t visit gravesites or talk about our losses
    That at a time of need corporations got their bailout loans but their parents unemployment insurance was allowed to expire 10/

    That we let people stand in line for food & lose their housing like the 1930s.
    That even after losing 150,000 people, we sat by knowing 70,000 more would be lost if we did not change. And we did not change. 11/

    Today’s kids will be back in school at some point, hopefully soon.
    What should scare us is that their kids will study us in their history books. 12/

    My grandmother, like so many others, came here with nothing without her parents. She was 8.
    Everything I have including the “liberty” & “rights” were nothjng I earned. They were gifted them from her & many others who sacrificed. 13/

    I always thought our job was to give something of equivalent value to our kids & grandkids.
    They have known for some time we have decided not to give them a more livable planet. And that’s unforgivable. 14/

    But this pandemic. This pandemic could absolutely be our moment to redeem ourselves. To show what we are made of. We can save lives.
    I think about the opportunity to show we can leave a legacy in these times. Show how pulled together. Valued human lives. Helped people in need.15

    But our kids and grandkids are unlikely to learn about us as “the greatest generation.” They are unlikely to call us “pro life.”
    I don’t think they will say their older generations sacrificed for them like we can say. 16/

    I think they may believe the lessons we tried to reach of kindness, of science, of charity were empty words. Telling them to do as we say not as we do. 17/

    We want kids back studying STEM but are a country ignoring & belittling scientists.
    We want kids back learning social studies but can’t demonstrate what adults do with lessons from history. 18/

    We want kids to learn and work in teams but see adults who can’t seem to manage not to put others’ lives ahead of our own rights.
    We teach values in school & religious school but do nothing about the suffering in nursing homes, farm labor camps & with people of color. 19/

    I have no moral high ground. I feel a part of the crime in progress. The good intentions & losing votes don’t add up to much rn.
    I only hope future generations will remember the doctors & nurses. The scientists & social workers. The many neighbors who helped each other.21/

    My hope is in them. That they will be formed by what they witnessed. I am hopeful we are raising people that would never tolerate the scale of human losses this large. 22/

    As of now I think they would look back & see people who wouldn’t wear a mask, wouldn’t bring this to a quicker end, didn’t have the courage or the character to at any moment look at the death toll & call for a stop. 23/

    I hope at any moment we change. There are many credible plans. I have a piece in @USATODAY tomorrow.
    I still believe we can take it back by caring about the next life we would lose. 24/

    But so far we haven’t made reducing the death toll or our kids’ future important enough to inconvenience ourselves. And they know it.
    That’s the education they’re getting. 25/

  118. 118.

    Original Lee

    @randy khan: There are plenty of parochial schools that are planning virtual-only openings in the fall. I think the pressure is coming from the hard-core Trumpistas in the state, of which there are enough to cause problems for him on other fronts.

  121. 121.

    mrmoshpotato

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: And yet my spudness remains!

    Has the comet decided yet that it’s sick of our bullshit for the next 6700 years, or is it still laughing at us out in space?

  122. 122.

    ballerat

    @mrmoshpotato: At first I thought it was Adam Sandler in a thong. Doesn’t matter if it wasn’t. My God.

    FYI, I feel compelled to join any upcoming BJ commentariat class action lawsuit for the pain and suffering of having seen that.

  125. 125.

    Mart

    Extended large family 3.5 hour Zoom get together Saturday. Brilliant nephew with no prom and his graduation speech taped, said he is going to Duke. I said that should last about three weeks, and my wife gave me the old under the table heel on my instep, and whisper hissed “stop”. I’m a party pooper.

  131. 131.

    Ken

    @Mart: Well, he’ll still be going to Duke. He’ll just have the added expense and wasted time of moving back to his parents’ house after three weeks.

    Have any colleges or universities promised to refund the housing fees, if they have to send everyone home because of covid?

    Conversely have any added a new clause in the housing agreement, probably under “force majeure”, that says there won’t be any refunds?

  132. 132.

    FlyingToaster

    @dmsilev:

    Stay far far away from Brighton and Allston, is what I’m getting at.

    Can’t.  Allston-Brighton touches everything.  Well, everything that Somerville doesn’t (and they both touch Cambridge).

    BU is strung out along Comm Ave through Allston/Brighton, Brookline to the south, Cambridge across the bridges to the north.

    BC is at the West end of Allston/Brighton, adjacent to Chestnut Hill (Newton/Brookline) and just down the hill from Brighton Center, just across the river from Watertown.

    Northeastern (the other uni bringing almost everyone back) is strung out along Huntington Ave, has booked one entire hotel (the Midtown) and is negotiating 19 floors plus function space in the Copley Place Westin.

    And Boston’s R0 is like 1.11.  Not 0.86.

    And WarriorGirl’s school is threatening to run all grades live (I am waiting to hear how they’re going to pull off that miracle without killing [redacted], the lead kindergarten teacher.)

  135. 135.

    AM in NC

    @Redshift: That’s mostly what happened in our district – initially parents could choose between “in-person” (which was online learning for 9 weeks and then move to A/B scheduling where group A goes Monday and Tues, group B goes Thurs and Fri and Wed is online) or 100% virtual for the first semester.  After the survey results came back, and watching the numbers in our state rise, school board shifted to 100% virtual for the first semester.  Of course this isn’t going to protect us when the Carolina students come back to town and start doing what college students do.  It is madness.

  138. 138.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mary G:

    He chose not to come to my inauguration.”

    How did he single out John Lewis out of all the people who chose not to come to his inauguration?

    More seriously: Graceless racist clod. We still need that word that means “shocking if not surprising”

  139. 139.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Mary G: AXIOS: How do you think history will remember you?

    DUMP: As a 10!

    HISTORY: Oh suck an egg!  I’ve thought you were a whiny, bratty manbaby for decades!

  143. 143.

    mrmoshpotato

    Yup. Well put, Charles.

    When school children and teachers and parents start getting sick and dying, it’s going to be difficult for Republicans to blame it on the libs.When, not if. Any governor who does what Trump wants is condemning children to die for a failed ideology of bullshit.— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) August 4, 2020

  148. 148.

    SWMBO

    Haven’t read the thread and I haven’t read the comments on the other threads…

    The waitress that got cold cocked by the Aryan Asshole was concussed.

    https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20200802/man-yells-lsquoi-am-white-supremacistrsquo-strikes-woman-at-nokomis-restaurant

    Her employer says she’s off now with pay (but not tips) and someone started a GoFundMe.  Have no idea how legit it is but here’s the link.

    https://www.gofundme.com/f/tips-for-kisha?utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=m_pd%20share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&fbclid=IwAR26F09NVNtHRe7as6Dsm-wLVYHCPkSZtrOncqHNUc2JDedJ40qrh_cbUMk

  151. 151.

    mrmoshpotato

    @different-church-lady: I know.  Russthuglicans would argue that ocean wasn’t salty if a salty ocean made them look like selfish assholes who killed thousands through selfishness, laziness and incompetence.

  152. 152.

    prostratedragon

    @SWMBO:  I hope it’s properly set up for her. I can readily believe she suffered such an injury; that “slap” was a board-breaker.

  154. 154.

    Soprano2

    I’ve talked to more than one person who wishes their kid’s school would offer a 5 days in the classroom option. I understand why they want to go back to “normal”, but I think they’re nuts.

  158. 158.

    MoxieM

    @different-church-lady: Didn’t the bedbugs take care of a lot of that a while ago? Granted it’s 35 years or so since I last did my stint on Comm Ave, but what with nieces and nephews and people like that.

  159. 159.

    FlyingToaster

    @Soprano2: While I would LOVE to get WarriorGirl and HerrDoktor out of the house, I don’t want any of us to be exposed.

    WarriorGirl’s MusicSchool is remote until January.  HerrDoktor’s office is remote until January.  I believe the aikikai is closed until January.  I’m likely to be here baking bread until January ?.  And repairing and replacing the stuff getting extra wear-n-tear so failing already.

  161. 161.

    FlyingToaster

    @MoxieM: Allston Christmas is alive and well, and may have started a month early (a LOT more folks than usual moved out August 1).

     

    The Twelve Days of Allston Xmas

    Twelve plumbers plumbing
    Eleven Skypers skyping
    Ten words a-bleeping
    Nine bands poorly singing
    Eight meter maids ticketing
    Seven vans a brimming
    Six roomies overpaying
    Five moldy things
    Four falling nerds
    Three car dents
    Two hurtled stoves
    and a Storrowed rental truck from Penske

  162. 162.

    Jinchi

    @Luciamia: No treats, just tricks. Just wait til you find out who bought up all the TP back in March. The Zoomers were planning this all from the start.

  163. 163.

    Redshift

    I’ve stayed on the White House email list from the Obama days, out of morbid fascination, I guess. They run lists of “stories” they want you to read. (They don’t call them news stories, with probably unintentional honesty.)

    One of today’s was an extended whine by some guy on RealClearPolitics about the media’s “commitment” to using “mostly peaceful protests” to describe “the riots sweeping the nation.” How it’s become cliche, and they won’t fool anyone because people can just see what’s happening outside their windows. He never mentions where he is or that he’s seeing riots outside his window, but those other people in places where he’s sure riots are happening.

    Yeah.

  164. 164.

    MomSense

    @Mary G:

    My god I just watched that video.  Obviously he’s a fucking idiot but that was just shockingly fucking stupid.  He’s a goddamned brat to boot. Everyone in his family, in his businesses in his fucking administration, in the fucking Congress – they all know how shockingly fucking stupid and unfit he is.  160,000 deaths and he is whining about the metrics being unfair.  Jesus Christ.  Everyone who enabled him should hang for this.

  165. 165.

    Kent

    @Gelfling 545:@clay: I was a teacher most of my working life. Trying to teach in person and online is going to be an almost impossible burden unless they are scheduling really very differently from the average highschool teaching class load.

    I know teachers who are going to teach everyone online.  The kids who show up will sit and do their stuff online as well.  No papers to turn in.  No labs with close contact.  Build a giant moat of desks and cabinets around the teacher desk to keep the kids 10-15 ft away minimum.  They come to class, sit down, open up their chromebooks and start their work.  But this is HS.  I don’t know what the elementary teachers are going to do.

    They figure it will all be online soon anyway, so might as well get everyone in the habit.  Around here all students K-12 are issued their own personal chromebooks so everyone can be online.

    That’s basically what I was planning to do before the district rolled back their hybrid plan and is starting the year 100% online.    Who knows when we will step foot back in the building.

  169. 169.

    DMcK

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Fun fact: some years back Cy Vance gave the Trump Org a clean pass on what was then considered a blatantly open-and-shut case of investor fraud related to money laundering, re: Trump Tower SoHo. In spite of PopeHat’s sentiments, I would still trust the Feds more than anybody at the intractably corrupt state or local level.

    Oh, and Vance is also up for re-election, so…yeah. All for show.

  175. 175.

    hervevillechaizelounge

    @A Ghost to Most:

    I don’t think (most) kids are intentionally passing the Covid; they’re simply staying true to the I-got-mine culture in which they were raised.  Consider it karmic payback for global warming’s unfettered escalation.

    On a personal note, I’m watching films based on the works of Philip K Dick and I just had to turn off The Adjustment Bureau—Matt Damon looks way too much like Matt Gaetz:(

    Damon plays a brash senate hopeful and I found myself praying for a political assassination.

  176. 176.

    DMcK

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    In general, yes. There’s still an active federal investigation in NY State that has persisted in spite of every effort to quash it. Vance is an elected city official, a position that doesn’t come without a SHITLOAD of favors owed.

  179. 179.

    hervevillechaizelounge

    @Brachiator:

    I kept seeing Matt Gaetz’s face superimposed over Matt Damon’s; the horror was ever-present.

    Now I’m watching Paycheck; Ben Affleck may be a tool but at least he doesn’t look like a republican.

  184. 184.

    PenAndKey

    @pat: Our cases in La Crosse County (western Wisconsin) were trending 3 or 4 new cases per day ( reported on the front page of the Tribune).  One day there were ZERO.

    Wait… what? Another La Crosse area resident? Huh, I never would have expected that. And yeah, with three colleges in La Crosse and a massive bar culture I’m absolutely dreading what the county is going to look like come Fall. At least we have the regional virtual academy so I don’t have to send my son into the fray. He hasn’t really left his little corner of Holmen since this all started.

    I never thought I’d say it, but thank heavens for MMOs, Xbox Live, and Discord team chat. Those have been his primary means of social interaction since this all started.

  185. 185.

    pluky

    @Gin & Tonic: Hebrew gets transliterated in various ways into roman depending on the language. Then the pronunciation tendencies based on that transliteration kick in. EeSahEeAs is actually closer to the standard Hebrew pronunciation than ISayAh.

  187. 187.

    marklar

    @Ken:

    I’m going to have synchronous classes once per week that will all be Discussion-based.   Students will come to class having done the readings (around 25-30 pages per class…I’ve found that if you assign more only 1/3 of the students do it, but with 25 pages or so 80% are prepared) and been given discussion prompts, so they should be ready to go.   I’m lucky because my Intro classes are capped at 25 students, and advanced classes at 15, and Zoom can still work with that size, especially if I do a couple of breakout rooms.

    I’ve recorded around a 15 minute Kaltura presentation for each week giving students some ‘big picture’ things to think about regarding the material (e.g., the ethics of the research, the social implications of the week’s topics…e.g., when we cover Harlow’s monkeys raised in isolation, I direct them towards readings on the Child Separation Policy; This summer I’ve taken Zimbardo’s prison study and had students reflect on how this informs Police reform, etc.).

    I’m also making a lot of use of Discussion boards. Students are required to do a 200-300 word post relating to the reading per week, and two 75 word replies to classmates.

    Covering the content isn’t my biggest concern.  Creating a sense of community in the classroom is.  Without that sense of intellectual community, students might as well save money and take online classes at a Community College (some of which are superbly taught).

  188. 188.

    Sm*t Cl*de

    @joel hanes: “Your highness, when I said that you are like a stream of bat’s piss, I only mean that you shine out like a shaft of gold when all around it is dark”.

  190. 190.

    JustRuss

    Thank god we’re on the quarter system, so we’ll open a month later than most universities. I’m assuming our administration will have learned from others’ mistakes and rethink their opening plans.

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